Start the Class with an Intro to Engineering. What is engineering? What does an engineer do? Once students have a basic understanding of what engineering is, tell them we are going to do an engineering challenge!

Procedure

1) Explain the activity. They will have 15 minutes to build the tallest tower out of 10 pieces of spaghetti and 12 inches of tape. The marshmallow must balance at the top of the tower. The time limit and the limited amount of materials given are known as constraints. (No you can’t eat the marshmallows. We will be measuring from to the top of the marshmallow so don’t use it as a base) 2) Split students into pairs and let them work for 15 minutes. Wander the classroom and talk about different designs. See if any groups need help. 3) When time runs out, have everyone take a look at the various tower designs. Which ones are the tallest? What did you have trouble with in this challenge? What do you think you needed to make a better tower? How did you make yours stand up? Did the weight of the marshmallow make any towers collapse? 4) Explain the difference in stability between triangle and square/rectangle structures. 5) Engineers have to work with constraints all the time. Failure is just a part of the Engineering Design Process.